Vertical axis roundabout



G. W. BERGEN VERTICAL AXIS ROUNDABOUT March 27, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Feb. 20, 1948 March 27, 1951 G. w. BERGEN 2,546,917

VERTICAL AXIS ROUNDABOUT Filed Feb. 20, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

(fea g? W301 a Patented Mar. 27, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GeorgeW. Bergen, Bel'mar, N. 5.

Application February 20, 1948, Serial No. 9,782

9 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to amusement or instructionapparatus and more particularly to such apparatus of the roundabouttype.

Designers of amusement or instruction devices and operators of amusementparks are continually endeavoring to achieve an apparatus or devicewhich, while actually restricted to operation within safe conditions orlimits, yet affords a maximum amount of control by an operator andappears to be under almost complete control of the operator of theapparatus or device. The operator should be, to a maximum extent, underthe illusion that he is able to freely and readily efiect control ormovement of the apparatus or device; this feature is particularlydesirable with amusement devices adapted to be ridden by young children.

Numerous attempts have been made to produce such a roundabout type ofapparatus or device but most of them embodied objections of one sort oranother which prevented their going into commercial use, or they provedto be too complicated and expensive to construct and operate.

The present invention aims to overcome the above and other difiicultiesor disadvantages by providing a new and improved amusement orinstruction apparatus which is safe in operation and which gives anoperator or customer maximum control of a vehicle or car while at thesame time maintaining the vehicle or car within safe limits ofoperation.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improvedinstruction or amusement apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedinstruction or amusement apparatus of the roundabout type.

Another object of the invention is to provide an instruction oramusement device which provides an operator with a relatively greatamount of control of a particular portion of the apparat- Another objectof the invention is to provide an instruction or amusement deviceembodying improved safety means for maintaining the apparatus' withinsafe limits of operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a Vehicle or car, adaptedto be used with a roundabout type of amusement device, embodying meansfor minimizing wear of supporting wheels or tires.

Another object of the invention is to provide a vehicle or car, adaptedto be used with a round about amusement device, which is more readilysteerable or controllable by an operator.

A still further object or the invention is to provide a roundabout typeof instruction or amusement apparatus adapted to furnish an illusion ofgreater speed to the operator of a vehicle or car associated therewith.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes ofillustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings,forming a part of the specification, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view illustrating in a general way a preferredembodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 2a is a fragmentary sectional view showing a detail of the drivingmeans illustrated in Figs. 1 and'2;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a modified form of a portionof the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view showing one form of vehicle or car;

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the vehicle or car illustrated in Fig.4;

Fig. 6 is a plan View illustrating one form of vehicle connecting means;

Fig. 7 is an end viewof the vehicle connection means shown in Fig. 6;and

Fig. 8 is a plan view illustrating a modified form of vehiclecontrolling means.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 or" the drawings, there isshown a platform or base I upon which are supported a plurality ofvehicles or cars 2. Each of the vehicles or cars 2 is operativelyconnected with a substantially radially extending arm or tow bar 4 byattachment or angle members 5, connecting links I and roller ortravelling assemblies 8.

While eight substantially radially extending tow bars 4" are shown forillustrative purposes, each adapted to be operatively connected with avehicle 2, any other suitable number may be utilized. The exact numb-erto be utilized may be affected by the lengths of the tow bars and thesizes of the vehicles to be operatively connected therewith.

' The radial tow bars 4 are shown joined, in any suitable manner, attheir inwardly disposed ends with a retaining means or hub It. The hubIt is adapted to be rotated, with the tow bars 4, about a central axisor shaft. Each of the tow bars 4 may be maintained in spacedrelationship at points located outwardly from the hub ID by any suitableinterconnecting strengthening or retaining members H and I8 and thestrengthening or retaining members II with the tow bars 4 are shownsupported upon the axles l 3 of wheels t4 positioned at suitableintervals around the circumference formed by the retainin members H. Theforegoing construction maintains the radially extending arms 4 incorrectly disposed spaced relationship and in elevated position abovethe platform 5.

Preferable a suitable shield or cover means I2 is utilized to concealthe centrally disposed portions of the device in order to enhance itsgeneral appearance.

Simultaneous rotation of the toW bars 4, together with the vehicles orcars 2 connected therewith, is shown provided by an electric motor it,mounted on a lowered platform [5 rotatable with the radial arms 4,through the shaft ll of the motor which is operatively connected with adriving wheel it that rests upon the platform I. The motor platform l5may be supported on the arms i in any suitable manner, for example byside walls or bracket-like portions that fit around the arms as shown inFigs. 1 and 2a. When the motor I6 is actuated it turns the wheel itthrough the shaft I? and the traction provided by the wheel i9 againstthe upper surface of the platform l serves to drive or rotate the towbars 3 and connected vehicles 2 over the surface of the platform I. Thedriving force or motivating effect of the wheel 49 is conveyed to therotatable structure through the shaft I? and a supporting or structuralmember ll, through which the shaft extends. Thus, actuation of the motorit serves to move the cars 2 around the platform. While any othersuitable means may be provided for rotating the arms or bars 4 andvehicles 2, the above described means has proven satisfactory in actualoperation.

Each of the vehicles 2 is adapted to be occupied by one, two, four orany other suitable number of operators or customers, depending upon thesize of the vehicles and the number of seats provided in the vehicles,and it is desirable that means be provided for facilitating movement ofthe vehicle longitudinally of the radially extending tow bar or arm 4 bythe operator. As pointed out hereinabove, each of the vehicles ispreferably connected with a tow bar by a bracket 5, connecting members 1and traveling assembly 8.

Each of the traveling assemblies or devices 8 preferably comprises aplurality of spaced rollers 22 and 23 (Fig. 6) normally in contact withthe radially extending tow bars 4, the spaced rollers 22 and 23 beingmaintained in desired position by interconnecting retaining plates 25,25 and 2?. As shown in Figs. 6 and '7, each of the plates 2'! is joinedwith the connecting rod 1 by a pivotal connection 28. A metal cover 9(Figs. 1 and 8) of any suitable type preferably encloses the rollers 22,23 and their interconnecting plates to improve the appearance.

The opposite end of the connecting member I is preferablyvjoined withthe bracket 5 by a pivotal connection 29 (Fig. 4). The constructionprovides for ready movement of the traveling means or device 8longitudinally of an arm or tow bar and facilitates guiding or directionby an operator of a vehicle 2 outwardly or inwardly along the tow bar 4.

Guiding or direction of a vehicle 2 longitudinally of a bar 4 may beprovided by a suitable steering mechanism (Figs. 4 and 5) comprising asteering wheel 3!, steering shaft 32, and link members 33, 34 and 35.Turning the steering wheel 3 l, or any other lever or levers which mightbe connected with the shaft 32 in lieu of a wheel, is effective to turnthe front Wheels 31 of a vehicle 2 toward the right or left similar toan automobile in such manner as to provide guiding or steering of thevehicle longitudinally of a radially extending tow bar 4. The vehicleillustrated in the drawings is a general representation of a "jeep butit could be made to represent some other vehicle, for example anaeroplane, in which event foot operated levers or wheel spoke arms couldbe positioned near the floor of the vehicle. In some instances it may bedesired to provide a duplicate or dual steering wheel in a vehicle andsuch may be similar to the foregoing described construction.

An operator seated in a particular vehicle may steer a vehicle in andout along an arm or tow bar 4 simultaneously with rotation of the bars 5about a circular path under the influence of the driving motor I6 anddriving wheel 19.

It is desirable that the extent of inward and outward movement of eachvehicle along a radial bar 4 be limited. This is shown provided by stopplates 39 and M] adapted to be contacted by a roller 41 carried adjacentthe outer end of a safety steering bar 42 of each vehicle (Figs. 1, 4,5), the safety steering bar being operatively connected with thesteering mechanism adjacent its opposite end 63. The safety steering bar42 turns in accordance with motion imparted to the steering wheel 3|.When a vehicle approaches the limit of its outward movement along a towbar 4 the roller 4| comes into contact with a stop plate and the stopplate serves to press the outward end of the safety steering bar 42inwardly and thus direct the vehicle inwardl along the tow bar 4. When avehicle approaches the limiting extent of its inward movement the roller4| comes into contact with an inwardly disposed stop plate 39 and thislatter stop plate serves to urge the end of the safety steering bar 42in outward direction to thus steer or direct the vehicle outwardly alongthe tow bar. The operator may guide a vehicle along the tow bar 4 forthe full extent thereof intermediate the inner and outer stop plates 39and 43.

It is desirable to provide means for limiting the angle or extentthrough which the front wheels 3'! of a vehicle may be turned in orderto minimize the possibility of an operator turn ing the wheels inwardlyor outwardly to such an extent as to cause them to drag sideways alongthe platform I. Means for so limiting the extent through which thewheels may be turned is shown more particularly in Fig. 5 wherein anglemembers 45 secured to the underside of a vehicle are provided withadjustable stop screws 46. The stop screws 46 may have their positionsselectively determined so that end plates ll thereon are positioned atdesirable distances from the safety steering bar 42 that extendsoutwardly between them.

When the adjustable stop members 45 are moved apart from each other, thesafety steering bar has a relatively wide range of movement and thesteering wheel 3i and front vehicle wheels may be turned through arelatively large angle;

a vehicle may thus be steered rapidly in and out along a tow bar 4. Whenthe adjustable stop screws are moved inwardly toward each other theextent of movement of the safety tow bar is more limited and hence theoperator may turn the steering wheel and front wheels 3'5 through alesser angle and thus the vehicle will move inwardly and outwardly alonga tow bar at a slower rate. Lock nuts 49 may be provided for securingthe adjustable stop screws in a particular adjusted position.

In Fig. 8 there is shown a modified form of safety steering bar adaptedto perform the function of the steering bar illustrated in Figs. 4 and5. As shown in Fig. 8 the safety steering bar comprises a member 42aextending substantially transversely across the front of the vehicle 2aand having rollers 4m secured adjacent the out- \vardly extending endsthereof. As the vehicle 2a is steered in and out along the tow bar 4athe rollers 4la come into contact with stop plates similar to thosedescribed in connection with Figs. 4 and 5 and the extent of inward oroutward movement of the vehicle 2a along the tow bar 4a is limited.

It will be noted (Figs. 1, 2 and 5) that the rear wheels of the vehicles2 are shown fixed at outwardly divergent angles 2! (Fig. 5) with respectto the normal path of movement of a vehicle 2.

The rear wheels are preferably permanently set at an outwardly disposedangle with respect to the fore and aft axis of a vehicle. It has beenfound that setting the rear wheels outwardly at a permanent anglefacilitates travel of a vehicle around the circular platform i andgreatly minimizes wearing of the tires which support the rear of avehicle.

The particular mounting angle for the rear wheels of a giveninstallation will be influenced by the effective lengths of the tow bars4 and the distances along the tow bars through which the vehicles may bedriven. In actual practice it is desirable to utilize an angle settingwhich gives optimum vehicle travel and minimum tire wear at a locationsubstantially midway between the inner and outer stop plates 39 and 48;as vehicles move in or out with respect to such an average locationthere is minimum deviation in vehicle operating and tire wearingcharacteristics. By way of example, in one installation utilizing towbars approximately twelve and onehalf feet long, with approximately sixfeet between inner and outer stop plates, rear wheel angle settings 2iof about nine degrees have been found satisfactory.

In order to promote an illusion of speed there is preferably provided adome-like portion 53 mounted on suitable supporting arms 54 and disposedadjacent the inward portions of the tow bar 4. Certain of the supportingarms 54 are secured to a circumferentially extending track 55 that restsupon the upper side of spaced supporting wheels 58 rotatably carried byretaining arms 59 secured adjacent their inner ends 60 with a hub orbearing portion 63; this hub 63 may be secured to the central shaft, byset screws or in any suitable manner, so as to hold the arms 59stationary. The spaced wheels 58 are shown resting against acircumferentially extending trackway or path 62 secured to the uppersurfaces of the tow bars 4, about which they travel. As the motor l6serves to rotate the tow bars 4 and trackway 62, the connecting members59 and supplemental wheels 58 tend to remain at rest; however, thewheels 58 are caused to rotate by movement of the trackway 62. Thisrotation of the tow bar 4 and lower trackway 62 and wheels 58 tends torotate the upper trackway 55 in a direction opposite to that of therotation of the trackway 62. Thus the dome-like member 53 carried by thesupporting members 54 tends to rotate about the central shaft in anopposite direction with respect to movement with the tow bars 4 andvehicles 2. As a result the relative movement causes the vehicles 2 toappear to be moving faster than their actual speed or movement over theplatform l.

While the member 53 is shown of substantially dome-like shape in Fig. 2any other appropriate shape could be utilized, for example, the tieredcylindrical construction shown in Fig. 3.

It will be seen that the present invention provides a new and improvedinstruction or amusement apparatus which is adapted to provide anoperator with a greater degree of control or freedom of movement of avehicle than is generally true of previous constructions. The operatormay readily and easily control the steering of a vehicle in and outalong a radially extending tow bar. Since a vehicle is pulled by a towbar at a position (link 'I) spaced from the steering mechanism, theoperation of the steering mechanism is not hindered or impaired in anyway but may be turned relatively easily by the open ator. While avehicle may be readily steered in and out longitudinally of a tow bar,excessive or rapid movement of a vehicle along the tow bar may beminimized or prevented by the provision of adjustable control screws.Excessive movement of a vehicle inwardly and outwardly of a tow bar isprevented or minimized by the safety steering bar adapted to co-operatewith inwardly or outwardly disposed stop plates carried by the steeringbar.

Excessive wear of the tires of a vehicle and improved travel of avehicle around a supporting platform is provided by positioning thenonsteerable vehicle supporting wheels at a fixed outwardly disposedangle with respect to the normal path of movement of the vehicles.

The provision of an interiorly disposed oppositely revolving dome-likemember provides the illusion of greater than actual speed of the vehicles.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangementof the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to beunderstood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In an amusement device of the class described, the combination of aplurality of substantially radially extending arms adapted to move abouta circular path, means for supporting said arm and moving it about saidpath, steerable vehicles operatively connected with and propelled bysaid arms adapted to travel about said circular path and steerablelengthwise of said arms during movement about said circular path, amovable wall portion supported on said vehicle propelling arms adjacentinner portions thereof, and drive means operatively interposed betweensaid movable arms and said wall portion for moving said wall portionrelative to said arms.

2. In an amusement device of the class described, the combination of aplurality of substantially radially extending arms adapted to move abouta circular path, means for supporting said arms and moving them aboutsaid path, vehicles operatively connected with said arms adapted totravel about said circular path and to move lengthwise of said arms, afirst wall portion carried by said arms adjacent inner portions thereof,and movable with said arms about said circular path, a second wallportion carried by said arms and spaced from said first Wall portion,and means operatively interconnecting said arms and said second wallportion for moving said second wall portion in a direction opposite tothat of said arms and said first wall portion.

3. In an amusement device of the class described, the combination of aplurality of substantially radially extending arms adapted to rotateabout a circular path, means for supporting said arms and rotating themabout said path, vehicles operatively connected with said arms adaptedto travel about said circular path and to move lengthwise of said arms,a movable wall portion supported upon and projecting above said armsadjacent centrally disposed portions thereof, and driving meansinterconnecting said movable wall portion and said arms for rotatingsaid wall portion in a direction opposite to that of said arms uponrotation of the arms.

4. In an amusement device of the class described, the combination of aplurality of substantially radially extending arms adapted to revolveabout a circular path, means for supporting said arms and revolving themabout said path, vehicles operatively connected with said arms adaptedto travel about said circular path and to move longitudinally of saidarms, a circular trackway mounted on said arms adjacent inwardlydisposed portions thereof, a rotatable wheel resting against saidtrackway and revolvable with said arms upon rotation thereof with saidtrackway, and a revolvable wall supported upon said wheel and adapted torevolve in a direction opposite to that of said arms upon rotationthereof with said trackway.

5. A device of the class described comprising the combination ofrotatable means, an arm projecting from said means and rotatabletherewith, a vehicle having a steerable supporting wheel, means formanually steering said wheel from the vehicle to direct the vehiclelongitudinally of the arm, means interconnecting said vehicle and armindependently of said steerable wheel for rotation of the vehicle withthe arm upon rotation of the latter, a member independent of saidinterconnecting means operatively connected with said 8 steerable wheelfor turning movement with said wheel during steering thereof, and stopmeans adjacent outer and inner portions of said arm adapted to becontacted by a portion of the member to move it and turn said wheel in adirection away from the stop means.

6. A device of the class described comprising the combination ofrotatable means, a plurality of arms projecting generally radially fromsaid means at spaced intervals thereabout and rotatable therewith, aplurality of vehicles each having a steerable supporting wheel, meansfor manually steering said wheel from the vehicle to direct the vehiclelongitudinally of the arm, means interconnecting each of said vehiclesand arms independently of said steerable Wheel for rotation of thevehicles with the arms upon rotation of the latter, each vehicle havinga member independent of said interconnecting means operatively connectedwith said steerable wheel for turning movement with said wheel duringsteering thereof, and stop means adjacent outer and inner portions ofeach of said arms adapted to be contacted by a portion of the member tomove it and turn said wheel in a direction away from the stop means.

7. A device as claimed in claim 5, in which selectively settable meansis provided adjacent oppositely disposed portions of said member forcontrolling the angle through which said member and said steerable wheelmay be turned.

8. A device as claimed in claim 5, in which said arm carries the stopmeans.

9. A device as claimed in claim 5, in which said vehicle also has a pairof supporting wheels permanently fixed to the vehicle at an angle suchas to direct a portion of the vehicle toward the outer portion of thearm.

GEO. W. BERGEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following referencesare of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

